For Societies

Do you play golf with a Society?

Whether or not you are a member of a golf club, you may also be a member of a golf society or occasionally play with one.

It's just as easy for a golf society to join in with the Charity and we show below an example of how one society in Cheshire did just that, leading to two of its members taking part in that year's Peter Alliss Masters.

So please, give it some thought, pass the word round any society you are in contact with either directly or indirectly, and help us get more supporters on board.

If you are interested ...

... please get in touch with me, Phil Davies - details on our 'Contact Us' page - and I can talk you through how to get started.

We can provide guidance on how to 'sell' the idea to members along with some fundraising suggestions.

We can provide you with a personalised 'thanks and good luck' letter from Peter Alliss for you to share with members and potential donors.

We will include your Society in our list of supporters on our official website.

We can provide branded goods (at cost) for you to use as prizes.

We can help you set up your own MyDonate page to help you collect donations and track progress.

We will put you in touch with one of our registered Dealers who will identify a suitable recipient and make all the necessary arrangements.

He or she can also arrange for the child and family to come to a venue of your choice for the final presentation.

Please don't be put off by anything you think may be a problem as we can work through any issue with you.

Thank you so much for getting this far and please do get in touch.

Additional material

You will find all of the information you need to know about the Peter Alliss Masters on this website.

In addition, we have put together a Leaflet to explain how the Charity and qualification for the Peter Alliss Masters works plus a Poster template - which we will edit to include your details - for you to use to help get the message across to your fellow members.

Case Study:

Frodsham & Helsby Golf Society

FHGS is a society of around 30 active golfers who play in and around Cheshire. Like most societies, the focus is not just the golf but also the social side that goes with it including the occasional bit of fund-raising. Each year, the new Captain chooses a charity to support and in 2016 it was the Peter Alliss Masters.

Incredibly given the size of the society, they raised so much in one year that two of their members were rewarded with places in the Peter Alliss Masters.

So how did they manage it and could other societies do something similar? We asked Phil Davies who was Captain that year.

In Phil's own words ...

"It was a charity that, right from the start, members got behind. As I was already involved with the Charity, I had some insight into how things worked and was able to agree some backing from the Charity committee. Having done it though, I can assure you it's an approach that any society can adopt.

In the first get together of my year, I set an aspirational target of raising enough funds - £3,000 - to buy a powered wheelchair. It was much more than we usually raised but it was a charity close to my heart so I'd already decided I would make up any difference - although, as it turned out, I needn't have worried! I also said that we would have a youngster at our final event to receive the powered wheelchair so that made it all very real.

I had got agreement up front from the PAM Committee that we could enter one of our members in that year's PAM just on the promise of raising the money. This gave members an added incentive and in the end we raised almost enough for two chairs, so we sent two members to PAM for the fully paid up 2-day event and they had a brilliant time down at Old Thorns.

At our final event of the year, we presented the powered wheelchairs and that was a very special moment for our members when we saw just what our contributions meant to those youngsters and their families."

So how did we do it?

"We had three main fundraising strings.

The first was a sweep at each event where everyone chipped in a fiver and the person who drew out the player who subsequently won that day's comp won a cash prIze. Typically we collected around £150 per event with £50 going to the sweep winner and £100 to the Charity. Over ten events that was £1,000 cleared straight off.

The second was by agreeing with each club we were visiting to donate a Fourball for us to auction for the Charity. A personally addressed letter from Peter Alliss helped convince them of the merits of this charity. I would also stress to the clubs that it cost them nothing and they gained in terms of sales in the clubhouse and pro shop plus kudos for their support for charity. We auctioned these four balls to members and they typically raised around £100 each. So that was another £1,000.

The third was personal donations. Several members and their friends wanted to make personal donations so we set up our own MyDonate page to collect donations. This also took care of GiftAid which added 25% to money donated this way

We were very fortunate to have a member donate a US Masters Flag signed by that year's winner, Danny Willett. Also, a friend of mine donated the authenticated match ball from the game in which Wayne Rooney scored his first goal in the Premiership at the age of 16 - a wonder goal against Arsenal. Together, these raised substantial funds in auctions.

Other initiatives included a Swear/Fines Box (I know!) plus a sweep to guess how much was in the tin (too much!). We also had the occasional game of Heads & Tails at dinner although I was mindful not to put on our members too much. Hence the sweep and four ball auction were the only fundraisers we had throughout and our members benefited too from the prizes.

When you start out, you wonder how on earth you are going to raise your first £1,000 but it's surprising how it very quickly takes off and in the end we raised £5,300. This was exceptional though for various reasons and smaller amounts are just as vital. Whatever a society can raise, the rewards - for members and the children and their families - are amazing.

I must stress that our guys are great but there's nothing unique about our Society - if we could do it then anyone can."